thirty days of thankfulness; week one.

I've been wanting to do a thankfulness challenge, but haven't really had time to do one. I finally found some free time this morning to sit down and catch up on some blogs and I came across a thirty day thankfulness challenge I found on The Harrells on Hood blog. So here it goes:

November 1st: I am thankful for the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Specifically the one located in ATL. My mom had surgery there last Tuesday to remove cancerous tumors. She has complete healing in Jesus name.

November 2nd: I am thankful for the chefs at CTCA and that I have food on my plate to eat. The food at the treatment center was absolute incredible. I am blessed to be able to eat healthy meals and have food on my plate every single day.

November 3rd: I am thankful for stumbling upon this article that has went viral on marriage not being for you. Such a beautiful reminder of the marriage plan that God has for us.

November 4th: I am thankful for the holiday seasons. It brings so much joy to my life, brings families so close together, and reminds us of the true reason for the season.

November 5th: I am thankful for a place to call home. It may not be my ideal "perfect" image of a home, but I get to come home to a loving husband, a playful dog, and a pillow to lay my head on at night.

November 6th: I am thankful for laughter with my husband. Those moments when random laughter starts and it can't stop. Those are the best.

November 7th: I am so so so thankful for my family. They are my everything.

Thankfulness.

I am so very thankful.  I need to remind myself to cultivate an attitude of gratitude each and everyday, just not in November when I have constant reminders everywhere to be thankful.

This past week my husband, my sister, the dog, and I all drove to Atlanta to visit my mom who had surgery to remove tumors that have been causing the leiomyosarcoma cancer. Honestly, the whole experience was such a blessing. We know that God has healed her and that it will not strike it's ugly head again. I am thankful to Him for allowing her body to be healed and freed from the nastiness called cancer.

While in ATL, we celebrated my dads birthday. We took a day trip to Senoia, also known as "Woodbury" where The Walking Dead's governor's place is filmed! It was absolutely so much. Downtown historic Senoia (where it was filmed) had the CUTEST little shops. We enjoyed every minute of it. The third picture on top is where the governor's lab is filmed! How stinkin neat.

I am also thankful for eMeals. I recently signed up and it has been a grocery shopping and dinner lifesaver! I recommend it so much - especially if you are newly married and have no clue where to even begin in the kitchen.

God is sooo good, y'all. Lately, I have been struggling a lot, but I know if I just trust in the LORD He will make my paths straight.

This tiny apartment

Somedays I just get so worked up over where my husband and I live.

We honestly didn't look at that many apartments when we made our decision in May where we were going to live. We certainly should have expanded our search further.

Our landlords are the most unpleasant people. This is no exaggeration. If you were to look them up on Google you would find many bad reviews on them... We made the mistake of not looking them up first before we signed the lease. There have been many occasions of them being extremely rude to both my husband and I. Also, an incident happened a little over a month ago with our dog getting off his leash while I was walking him. A dog was coming towards us so he took off at the other dog. Long story short, for some reason the owner of the properties was just sitting in his truck in the middle of the apartment complex and he saw what happened. He decided to exaggerate way more and lie about the whole situation. He claimed that several people were trying to help the dogs stop wrestling each other, etc, when in reality it was just ME outside with him standing off to the side just watching it happen while I was screaming for help! That definitely caused me extreme anger, but I got over it.
I just can't wait till our lease is up.

Somedays I just want to cry because of this apartment. The dishwasher barely works, the downstairs toilet completely stopped working, the upstairs toilet barely works now, people leave out their trash on their doorsteps at night which ends up all over the complex the next morning, the neighbors fight, a cop and ambulance were here last Friday night because of something that happened with the neighbors a few doors down, there isn't any space to cook... I could go on forever with the list.

But I need to realize something.

Atleast I have a roof over my head, air, and heat.

I need to be thankful on a daily basis for that.

LORD, please remind me daily of how much you have blessed me with and that I am only in a season of stressing out over this apartment.

October!

Today is October 1st! I am so super pumped for this month! Fall, fall, fall! Bonfires, costumes, apples, pumpkins, crisp air, crunch leaves! I could go on forever about all my favorites of fall.

All dressed up for church on Sunday! Yep, that's part of our church right behind us! Our apartment is beside the church.

Life lately has been busy, but it's been fun. This past weekend Josh had a few friends over who spent the weekend at our apartment just chilling and hanging out. We all watched World War Z together... To be honest, I actually really enjoyed the movie! I am a fan of The Walking Dead also... but I am not a huge fan of zombies haha. My sister and my best friend also stayed with us this weekend... We definitely had a full house for such a little apartment.

My husband may or may not have asked me to paint his nails with glow in the dark nail polish he saw at Walgreens. It went on clear in case anyone was wondering. When we laid down for bed that night he pretended his fingers were spiders. He seriously had a blast. Isn't he precious?

Carry Me Through//Links for the weekend

This week started out with a sick dog and a flooding bathroom, but it has ended quite well. My best friend and I babysat my two favorite littles last night. Tomorrow, I'm going to the dog day festival back in my hometown! I'm pretty excited to spend the day with Ryland, my sister, and (hopefully) my husband will come along also! :)

For your weekend, here are a few links I have enjoyed:

I absolutely love this! This woman needs to make a sketchbook out of these for kids to finish! I love her daughter's additions to all her faces. I would buy this for my future littles.

I love this idea for a gift. I'm going to put one together for my dad's birthday at the beginning of Novemeber.

The Green PolkaDot Box. I just recently found this. It's an online grocery shopping site with organic/natural foods for CHEAP! Not having to leave the house to grocery shop and getting cheap organic and natural food sounds like a winner to me! I haven't decided yet if I am going to go ahead and use it or wait until we move into our home so all of the groceries aren't delivered to my apartment.

Speaking of grocery shopping, here is a list of foods for stocking up in your pantry! I am going to have to do that soon.

Have a happy weekend!

P.S. - Here's a picture from last night of my two favorite littles! How sweet are they?

HAPPY (ALMOST) FALL, Y'ALL!

Fall is definitely, by far, my most favorite season. It's just something about the crisp air, crunch leaves, and chill nights that makes me feel complete. I've already had many pumpkin spice lattes (and frappes!), I've set out the fall scented candles, and the husband & I bought our first pumpkin together as a married couple! I am so excited for what fall is going to bring me this year. I want to make the absolute best of it.

On a side note: Joshua and I are moving to a home by or before December, but have not found one yet. Prayers would be greatly appreciated for God to direct us to the right home for us! Thanks so much!

This is the pumpkin that Josh and I picked out the other night! It's a super bumpy pumpkin with the cutest stem! We love it!

{When that storm comes like a hurricance...}

Life lately has been full of highs and lows. It has thrown more stress at me than I ever thought possible. I'm trying to learn how to balance married life and college life. I'm not going to lie, it's been difficult. Last Monday, an issue came up with our landlords. They haven't been the nicest people, and it turns out that basically everyone who rents from them has issues. This issue has caused A LOT of stress for my husband and I, so tons of prayers would be appreciated! Also, my mom was in the hospital this past week. She has leiomyosarcoma (a rare cancer that affects 1 in 6 million women), but she was hospitalized due to a blockage in her intestines from a previous surgery last summer. Prayers for my mom would also be greatly appreciated! God is always faithful, though. He will never gives us more than we can handle. I just need to remind myself of that daily. On the bright side, on Saturday I got to spend some time with the two most precious girls ever. They are like nieces to me. I'm sad that I don't get to see them as often now because I live an hour and a half away, but I am so thankful for all the times when I do get to see them! I hope everyone has a blessed Tuesday, and I will leave you with one of my favorite songs that I know God speaks to me through every time I listen to it.